Patent specification DE 195 19 786 C2 discloses an electrical contact device which has a flat-plug connection device with a plurality of first contacts in the form of flat-plug connections, and a socket connection device with a plurality of second contacts in the form of connections which are provided with self-supporting contact arms. In this case, each of these two connection devices is fitted in a fixed position to a respective apparatus. The two apparatuses can be fitted to one another by movement in a movement direction, wherein an electrical connection is made between the contacts at the same time when the two apparatuses are fitted to one another, and is maintained over a large movement distance of the relative movement of the two apparatuses.
In order to avoid excessive wear along a specific line on the flat-plug connections during this process, provision is made for the contact projections of mutually adjacent contact arms to be offset with respect to one another in a direction which runs transversely with respect to the movement direction, such that they slide along different points over the contact surface of the first contact associated with them.